It’s been almost two weeks now since the amazingness that was YALC and I’m still not sure I’ve really recovered. I had such an amazing time listening to authors speaking on topics that were important to them, chatting to YA lit fans of all ages and from all parts of the UK (and further abroad) and coming home with more piles of swag than I could shake a stick at!

I had a phenomenal time, and picked up so much stuff that I’ve really enjoyed looking through. My TBR is growing by the minute, and I’m not really sure I can handle it any more.

There really is no way to describe all the things that went on over the weekend, the fun and the books and the talks and the joy, so this post is mostly made up of photos and captions.

This little pup made his way around the hall as part of a competition.

Baby Broni made a new friend at the Publishing 102 workshop

The wall of books was a particular highlight, partially because it was so beautiful, and partially because it was surrounded by beanbags and deck chairs for reading!

My friend Kellie is a massive Patrick Ness fangirl, so this photo was taken just for her.

This temporary glitter tattoo for Malorie Blackman’s space epic Chasing the Stars not only managed to get glitter all over my watch, but also lasted an impressive four days until I vigorously scrubbed it off!

This Goldenhand proof made the entire weekend worth going through anything. What a superb return to the Old Kingdom.

A potion making class for The Potion Diaries was a fun and refreshing way of spending my Sunday afternoon!

A free manicure from Walker Books to match this book about friendship was too good an offer to pass up!

This is Sunday’s swag – although I think there may have been a tote bag or two as well.

This is the final stack of YALC books. As of now, two weeks later, I’ve read four of them. I’ve got a long way to go!

All the little samplers and short stories I got have massively expanded my TBR – I’ll definitely be eagerly awaiting the publication of some of these books!

On declaring my love for The Girl From Everywhere, the lovely girls at the Hot Key Stand gave me this lei. I felt so tropical!

The three days of YALC were all different, and all really very entertaining and engaging. I left with not only a lot of books and a new appreciation of feeling like part of a community, but also a lot of joy and happiness at the fun which I had had.

For me, the absolute highlight of the weekend was getting Goldenhand, but hot on the heels of that comes a raft of experiences and discussions which I will treasure until next year, when I’ll get to experience YALC all over again.

If you have an interest in YA literature, in YA authors, in books, in the writing process, in creativity, any or all of the above, I highly recommend visiting YALC. It’s a superb weekend and I hope it continues for many, many more years to come!